April 2, 2006, Tatoosh Trifecta 3 Charm
4/2/06
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
3653
6
Mad_Dog and Jen dragged some smelly cats around the Tatoosh today...JW, Tom D, ronj and this jibber tried our best to keep up.
After gearing up at Narada Falls and making our ways up to the road, we quickly veered into the old growth following the wiley ronj's super double-omega secret route to the goods.
This was a great trip and we even had a "crux" which consisted of a very steep and narrow chute that needed to be climbed in order to reach the slopes of our desires. Boot pack, zig-zag, skin vertically...there was no easy way up this one. Six sweaty beasts eventually emerged and were rewarded with access to dozens of beautiful lines in untracked snow. Nice!! And the crux primer worked as everyone really skied nicely.
New pic. JW doing his finest "spoon-man" impression. Sweet work Jerry:
We saw and participated in some sluffing as the day progressed and the temperature rose. The top few inches of snow on upper east aspects were very sluffy (new word?) by the end of the day up higher. We also saw sluffing on lower north aspects in the late afternoon heat. It's definitely Spring and the snowpack is warming.
Thanks all, for a super day! I really enjoyed our mature crowd of tourers today...average age: 50? Not too shabby!!
More pics here:
http://groups.msn.com/RandoSkiing/tatoosh4206.msnw
After gearing up at Narada Falls and making our ways up to the road, we quickly veered into the old growth following the wiley ronj's super double-omega secret route to the goods.
This was a great trip and we even had a "crux" which consisted of a very steep and narrow chute that needed to be climbed in order to reach the slopes of our desires. Boot pack, zig-zag, skin vertically...there was no easy way up this one. Six sweaty beasts eventually emerged and were rewarded with access to dozens of beautiful lines in untracked snow. Nice!! And the crux primer worked as everyone really skied nicely.
New pic. JW doing his finest "spoon-man" impression. Sweet work Jerry:
We saw and participated in some sluffing as the day progressed and the temperature rose. The top few inches of snow on upper east aspects were very sluffy (new word?) by the end of the day up higher. We also saw sluffing on lower north aspects in the late afternoon heat. It's definitely Spring and the snowpack is warming.
Thanks all, for a super day! I really enjoyed our mature crowd of tourers today...average age: 50? Not too shabby!!
More pics here:
http://groups.msn.com/RandoSkiing/tatoosh4206.msnw
Way to get the TR and pics up in a timely manner, Jibber; High Five.
Yeah, we certainly had our way with that gulley:
Here's the Jibber in a magazine pose:
A humbling experience, it is, to again be reminded that the snow pack is smarter than me ;)
;)
More pictures HERE.
Yeah, we certainly had our way with that gulley:
Here's the Jibber in a magazine pose:
...We saw and participated in some sluffing as the day progressed and the temperature rose...Yep, the surface sloughing was fun to play with, but I was really surprised that the snow pack wouldn't do more. We planned an operated as if there would be some "step down" activity in the extensive sloughing. From my perspective it should have happened; on the lower (4800) and steeper (35-40 degrees) north facing aspects there was a very unconsolidated (softer that fist hard) 3 to 4 inch rotten sugar snow layer down about eight inches to a foot from the surface, beneath the 2 to 3 inch crust that was supporting the 4 to 8 inches of freshies that were doing all the sloughing. I fully expected a step down somewhere along the line. But all the ski cutting, jumping and hopping we could muster produced nothing. I honestly did not believe the crust was strong enough to hold up to the pounding that the sloughs, pinwheels and ski cuts were imposing on it. But bridge, it did, all day. Not one instance of a step down did we see.
A humbling experience, it is, to again be reminded that the snow pack is smarter than me ;)
...I really enjoyed our mature crowd of tourers today...average age: 50?...Thanks, Jibber, now to keep you out of hot water with the females in the group I'll need to claim to be an octoganarian. >:(
;)
More pictures HERE.
Great trip report and photos gang.
Ron, you promised you would never take anyone else on the "super double-omega secret route to the goods". It's a guy thing !
Ron, you promised you would never take anyone else on the "super double-omega secret route to the goods". It's a guy thing !
Great trip report and photos gang.I didn't want to do it, Zap. It was Jeanette's idea -- she made me do it.
Ron, you promised you would never take anyone else on the "super double-omega secret route to the goods". It's a guy thing !
It wasn't me ;).
I didn't want to do it, Zap. It was Jeanette's idea -- she made me do it.
No worries Zap, we threw in a couple of zigs and zags and a blindfold here and there to throw them off, the man secret is still safe ;D.
Great fun everyone!
Our trip started with near disaster as I backed the Bronco over Jen's new tele boots and fully loaded day pack with beacon,radio,glasses etc,etc ??? What kind of damage you ask? Squished a one inch diagonal corner of her PB&J samich 8) That's livin right baby!
Didn't get much video, (eyepiece fell off camera) but here's Jibber D making some nice turns
and Tom swinging out of his slough, and Jeanette in some fine arcs,and Jen doing terrific tele, and Ron tearing it up, and finally our two favorite ladies in fine form......nice day!
Our trip started with near disaster as I backed the Bronco over Jen's new tele boots and fully loaded day pack with beacon,radio,glasses etc,etc ??? What kind of damage you ask? Squished a one inch diagonal corner of her PB&J samich 8) That's livin right baby!
Didn't get much video, (eyepiece fell off camera) but here's Jibber D making some nice turns
and Tom swinging out of his slough, and Jeanette in some fine arcs,and Jen doing terrific tele, and Ron tearing it up, and finally our two favorite ladies in fine form......nice day!
Cool camera stuff Jerry, but where's the spoon-man vid?
Did I mess up on the filming ??? Am I going to be demoted from camera man's apprentice to something less than the camera man's apprentice? Like are you going to pull a Donald Trump on me, wag the cobra arm and say: "YOU'RE FIRED!!"
Or, do you have the footage... I'm freakin' out here Jerry ;D
Did I mess up on the filming ??? Am I going to be demoted from camera man's apprentice to something less than the camera man's apprentice? Like are you going to pull a Donald Trump on me, wag the cobra arm and say: "YOU'RE FIRED!!"
Or, do you have the footage... I'm freakin' out here Jerry ;D
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